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St Paul, MN—January 12, 1994—prelude to a photographic quest. . .

In January 1994, I made an epic cross-country journey from Massachusetts to Los Angeles.

On my way, I visited my brother in the Twin Cities, and spent some time exploring railroads in the area.

On the morning of January 12th, I made these photos at Daytons Bluff, near Hoffman Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota, using my Nikon F3T loaded with Fujichrome Velvia 50. Filtered winter sun made for some interesting yellowish gauzy light over the Mississippi.

These photos were just a prelude to some better photography. That night the weather shifted as arctic air blew in and the temperatures dropped from the low 30s (F) to minus 30 (F).

The extremely cold air produced some fascinating lighting conditions, and over the next few days, I made a body of photographs that was the start of my great photographic mid-1990s quests ! Stay tuned . . .

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Look Ma No Pans!

High winds on Tuesday resulted in some unusual activity on Wednesday.

Norfolk Southern’s New Holland Branch is a line that runs near (and ultimately connects with) Amtrak’s electrified former Pennsylvania Railroad Harrisburg Line. At Jefferson Drive in Lancaster, the lines are in sight of one another. While I was waiting for NS’s branch local, I was surprised by late running Amtrak Keystone that passed under wire with a P42 diesel leading an ACS-64 electric with its pantographs down.

I was out of position to photograph the eastward Amtrak train, but I made my photos of the Norfolk Southern freight (for a later post). Afterward I made a few inquiries to learn about Amtrak’s situation.

From my understanding the high winds on Tuesday had damaged the overhead lines in the Philadelphia area. To keep its trains running, Amtrak assigned P42s in the lead. Give credit to Amtrak for doing what was needed to get trains over the road!

Later in the day, during the lunch hour, Kris and I went trackside at Bird-in-Hand, Pa., where we caught westward Amtrak 643 Keystone running ‘behind the advertised’ with a P42 at the Harrisburg-end and an ACS-64 with its pans down on the Philadelphia end.

I made these images using my Nikon Z7-II. The NEF RAW files were adjusted for contrast, exposure and saturation in post processing.

Amtrak 643 at Bird-in-Hand, Pa.
Amtrak 643 at Bird-in-Hand, Pa.
Amtrak 643 at Bird-in-Hand, Pa.

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Coming and GOing at Sunnyside, Toronto.

Do you remember Velvia 100?

In February 2010, Pat Yough, Chris Guss and I made an epic trip to Ontario.

Our days in Toronto were memorably cold, but extremely productive photographically.

Clear frosty conditions are excellent for photography, but rough on fingers and camera batteries.

We caught the evening rushhour at Sunnyside, west of Toronto Union Station.

Using a Canon EOS-3, I exposed this Velvia 100 (RVP100) color slide of passing GO Transit trains minutes before sunset.

Velvia 100 was a relatively short-lived emulsion. It had a wonderful color palate, and a softer edge than Velvia 100F that was offered about the same time. Both Velvia 100 and Velvia 100F were a full stop faster than the original Velvia 50. This one stop difference really helped when photographing moving trains at the end of the day. Velvia 50, although expensive, is still available.

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Amtrak 643 at Gap

After days of gray cloudy skies the sun emerged. Kris and I paused at Gap, Pa., to roll by Amtrak’s westward Keystone, train 643. This was operating cab-car first with an ACS-64 electric at the back of the consist.

Working with my Nikon Z7-II and 24-70mm zoom set to 70mm, I exposed a series of images. I cropped these in post processing to emphasize the horizontal perspective.

70mm view, f4.5, 1/1250 second, ISO 200.
70mm view, f4.5, 1/1250 second, ISO 200.
70mm view, f4.5, 1/1250 second, ISO 200.

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Amtrak’s ‘Pepsi Cans’ on the Street

General Electric P32BWH

In 1991, Amtrak acquired twenty General Electric DASH 8-32BWH (Amtrak calls this model P32BH), a model were based on Santa Fe’s contemporary 500-series GE’s (built a year earlier).

As-built, Amtrak’s DASH 8-32BWH locomotives featured a novel modern paint scheme, which some observers compared to the coloration used by Pepsi on its 12-ounce aluminum cola cans, and so these were unofficially known as “Pepsi Cans.” In the early 1990s, they were often assigned in pairs to Amtrak’s West Coast services.

On February 7, 1994, I caught a pair of ‘Pepsi Cans’ leading the LA-bound Coast Starlight on Southern Pacific’s street trackage at Jack London Square in Oakland, California.

I exposed this Kodachrome 25 slide using my Nikon F3T with 28mm Nikkor wideangle lens. This image has been published several times, including as an illustration in Passenger Train Journal issue 197 that came out in the mid-1990s.

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Out of the Mist at Windsor Locks.

Amtrak 494 was running a bit behind the advertised when we arrived the ‘station’ in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.

I had time to set up my tripod, make an assessment of the lighting conditions, and frame up my photo before the train came into view.

The two car shuttle from New Haven made a very brief stop. I exposed this sequence using my Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens set at ISO 8000.

After just a moment the train was on its way toward Springfield, Massachusetts.

ISO8000, f4 1/125 second.
ISO8000, f4 1/200th second.

More than 38 years ago, I made a black & white photo of an Amtrak painted Budd-SPV2000 stopping here. See: http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/spv2000-at-windsor-locks-may-1985/

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Classic Kodachrome—Conrail 6717 leads TV9 at milepost 123.

If I wrote: ‘6717 WB w TV9 mp123 11-13-92’ would it mean anything to anyone but me?

It was a clear morning in November 1992. I’d set up west of Huntington, Massachusetts on Conrail’s Boston Line—the former Boston & Albany mainline grade over Washington Hill.

At that time, intermodal freight TV9 (Beacon Park, Boston to Chicago) routinely made its westward passage through the Berkshires in the morning.

On this particular day, the train was led by SD50 6717. While not unheard of, this was uncommon power for TV9, as in the early 1990s Conrail typically assigned sets of three and four GE C30-7A, C32-8 and C36-7 diesels to most of its Boston Line road freights.

Kodachrome 25 was my standard film. This traditional emulsion made it possible to expose dramatic backlit photos such this one. The nature of the grain structure and Kodachrome process, allowed the film to retain a degree of highlight detail while maintaining a clean edge between light and dark, even in high contrast situations such as this one.

Working with the locomotive exhaust and headlight, I made this dramatic silhouette of the train ascending the grade against a stark autumnal background.

I was working with my Nikon F3T with Nikkor 200mm lens set to f5.6 at 1/125th of second. To minimize flare, I shaded the front element of the lens with my notebook.

Today, the lack of ditchlights really dates the image. By the mid-1990s, ditch lights were standard on most locomotives.

The time was 8:10am. Conrail’s westbound TV9 met the eastbound SEFR near CP123 (just around the bend from my location). The eastbound passed me nine minutes later.

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MBTA 717 at Norfolk, Mass.

Filtered winter sun is better than rain!

Thin layers of clouds and bare early winter trees makes for a setting that reminds me of growing up in Massachusetts.

Kris and I stopped into Norfolk, Massachusetts during a brief visit with family over the holidays.

We arrived at Norfolk’s MBTA Station shortly before the arrival of westward Franklin Branch commuter train 717 led by HSP-46 No. 2013.

In its heyday, this route had been the mainline of the New York & New England, an erstwhile competitor, and later component of the New Haven Railroad.

I made these images using my Nikon Z7-II. I made a host of adjustments to the RAW NEF files to make the most of soft directional light.

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Square Mount—January 1, 1980

I made comparatively few color photos prior to 1980 and I have precious few ‘square mount’ Kodachrome slides.

On January 1, 1980, I traveled with my family from The Bronx, New York back to our home in Monson, Massachusetts. On the way, we stopped at New Haven, Connecticut to take a look at Amtrak GG1 4935 that had been repainted into the Raymond Loewy designed PRR scheme.

Using my old Leica 3A rangefinder I made this Kodachrome color slide of a Chevy pickup truck parked next to the antique electric locomotive.

I don’t know what became of the pickup but today the old GG1 is preserved and displayed at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, Pa. I’ve featured this locomotive in several recent Tracking the Light posts.

This Kodachrome slide was exposed 44 years ago!

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Foggy Morning at Willow Road.

A thick fog blanketed the landscape in Lancaster on St Stephens Day, or Boxing Day, or if you like, ‘the day after Christmas.’

Fog transmits sound with great clarity.

I’d stopped at the local Post Office, when I heard Norfolk Southern’s New Holland Branch local whistling for a nearby crossing. I postponed my errand, and drove to the Willow Road grade crossing.

On a sunny morning, the westside of the crossing would be fiercely backlit, but the heavy fog allowed for a view with the distant farm with softer contrast. Compare these images from the view I posted a few days ago (http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/grab-shot-on-the-new-holland-secondary/ ).

The point of the comparison is to show how to use different lighting conditions to the greatest advantage, and make the best photo depending on prevaling conditions.

I made the December 26th photos from the side of the road using my Nikon Z7-II. I cropped the files to improve the composition, while making adjustments to highlight and shadow detail and color temperature.

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Empty Energy Train on a Bright Day

Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts on the day after Thanksgiving was a bit light on birds. Kris and I had come to see the Polar Express (published previously on Tracking the Light). However, Mass-Coastal’s empty energy train was also on its way.

I made these photos of the short freight as it rolled toward the famous Cape Cod Canal bridge.

We thought it was neat that we caught several moves through this scenic area in just under an hour. What better place to catch Mass Coastal then in this coastal Massachusetts location?

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Holiday Lights

I’ve found that successfully photographing holiday light displays requires a bit of patience and some counter-intuitive techniques.

When I used film, a tripod was a necessary requirement. That is not true with modern digital cameras.

I’ve found that my most successful images are exposed when there’s still a hint of light in the sky. These generally look better than when colored lights are photographed against an inky black sky.

For these photos at Greenfield in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, I was working with my Nikon Z7-II and 24-70mm lens.

After a little experimentation, I settled on the following settings: ISO 2500, f4, White Balance preset ‘shadow’. I allowed the camera to select the exposure in ‘A’ (auto) mode, but dialed in -0.7 exposure compensation. This was key to avoid over-exposing the lights or allowing the background to appear too bright (my goal was have a dark background, but not so dark as to lose all detail.)

I made some minor adjustments in post processing, including increased saturation, nominal brightening of shadows, and overall adjustment to exposure to better balance the contrast and color.

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Slowing for the Curve at Gap

Amtrak Keystone 666 was slowing for the restrictive curve at Gap, Pa.

Siemens ACS-64 electrics were fore and aft. White lights forward, red at a rear.

Working with my Nikon Z mirrorless cameras, I exposded this coming and going sequence as the train glided east toward Philadelphia.

Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm zoom.
Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm zoom.
Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm zoom.
Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm zoom.
Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm zoom.

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North Reading Fast Freight

Reading & Northern’s North Reading Fast Freight makes an afternoon run from the North Reading Yard to Pittston, Pa.

In October, fellow author & photographer Dan Cupper and I made a project of catching this premium train on the move.

We set up at Reynolds, near South Tamaqua, Pa., where made a series of photos.

Leading the train was the recently repainted SD40-2 number 1983 (former 3062) , that commemorates 40 years of Reading & Northern/Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern operation. This wears a shade of blue remainiscent to that on the railroad’s scheme used on Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern’s CF7s back in the 1980s.

Reading & Northern SD40-2 number 1983 leads symbol freight NRFF (North Reading Fast Freight). Exposed with a Nikon Z6 with Nikkor 70-200mm zoom lens.
Exposed with a Nikon Z7-II with Nikkor 24-70mm zoom lens.

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Taurus and a Puzzle-switch

Among my slides from 8 September 2008, was this image of freights at Wien Huttelsdorf, Austria.

In the afternoon, I aimed my Canon EOS3 loaded with Fujichrome Provia 100F toward an ÖBB Siemens-built Taurus electric as it hummed its acceleration song while leading a freight out of a siding and out on to the main.

In the foreground is a ‘slip-switch’ or ‘puzzle-switch’, an arrangement of rails that allows maximum route flexibility between converging routes.

For 15 years this slide sat unlabled in the dark. Working from my notes taken during my September 2008 trip, I was able to accurately label these photographs.

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Cranberry Colored Santa Fe

Massachusetts Coastal GP7U 2006 was originally Santa Fe Railway GP7 2689.

On our visit to Cape Cod, we found this antique from 1951 basking in the late afternoon sun at the Hyannis yard.

I made a selection of photos from different angles, using different cameras and different lenses, to show how the angle of the sun and other differences can greatly affect how color is perceived and recorded.

So which is the ‘true’ color of the locomotive? There isn’t any ‘true’ color, it all depends on how you perceive it in the moment. The appearance of paint color changes with as the light changes.

Cape Cod Central’s cranberry is a difficult color in part because it is a mix a blue and red hues. Blue is greatly affected by the color of the sky; red by the sun. With a polarized sky and the sun low on the horizon the angle of view (and angle of reflection) affects the apparent color more than on a day with more diffused sunlight and the sun higher in the sky.

Complicating matters for the modern day photographer is that different camera sensors and color profiles also affect the way that color is recorded.

This is the classic three/quarter angle.Exposed using a Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Nikkor Z-series zoom. Set at 45mm, f9.0 at 1/80th of a second. ISO 80.
A slightly more broadside view: the shadow hints at the angle of the light. Exposed using a Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Nikkor Z-series zoom. Set at 40mm, f9.0 at 1/80th of a second. ISO 80. Note the relative position of the moon compared with the above image.
This photo was made just a few minutes after the above image while using my Lumix LX7; ISO 80, f4.0 1/250th second. The camera has a different sensor and color profile than the Nikon. The color balance has a greater amount of red and the saturation is higher than with the Nikon images above.
Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series zoom set to 160mm. ISO 100 f9.0 1/320th of a second .Back lighting with low sun produces a ‘glint’ effect that reflects a portion of the sunlight back toward the camera. This has the effect of desaturating the color of the equipment. While we can still see the cranberry coloring on the locomotive, it is significantly subdued compared with the images made using over the shoulder light. This is partially the result of having to ‘stop down’ (underexpose) to compensate for the brighter ‘glint’ light.
This is a tighter variation exposed using a longer focal length setting on the zoom lens (200mm compared with 160mm in the image above). Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series zoom, ISO 100 f9.0 1/320th of a second.

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Vienna: Rathausplatz-Burgtheater

On the evening of 8 September 2008, I was on a whirlwind tour of Hapsburg cities with fellow photographer Denis McCabe.

Working with a Canon EOS-3 loaded with Provia 100F, I made this low-angle photo of a Ring tram paused at the Rathausplatz-Burgtheater stop.

At the time, I carried a compact mini Gitzo tripod that was well suited to this type of urban photography.

I like the contrast of the opulent Hapsburg architecture with the drain-grate in the foreground.

Fujichrome Provia 100F was an ideal choice for this type of night photography because the film incorporates filtration layers designed to minimize the color spikes caused by various types of artificial light.

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On the Beet: Wellingtonbridge 18 Years Ago

On 2 December 2005, clouds had given way to a burst of late afternoon sun at Wellingtonbridge, County Wexford as sugarbeet was being loaded into the wagons that would take them by rail to Mallow, County Cork.

What this photo cannot convey is the earthy scent of the freshly harvested beet and the ‘clop clop clop’ sounds of the beet being loaded.

Below are two versions of the Fujichrome slide scan. The top is the raw unmodified scan. The bottom is my adjusted JPG of the same scan. I aimed to make a more pleasing photo by lowering contrast, lightening shadow areas, and warming the color temperature

Since this photo was made; the beet traffic ended (long story), the beet wagons were scrapped, and later the railway through Wellingtonbridge was closed to regular traffic. However, old Irish Rail 134, one of 15 Class 121-GM diesels, was preserved and has since been restored and repainted into its as-built gray and yellow livery.

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Amtrak’s Pennsylvanian Crosses the Conestoga

Not far from our Lancaster apartment, Amtrak’s former Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line to Harrisburg crosses the Conestoga River on an impressive multiple-span stone arch bridge.

Fellow author and photographer, Dan Cupper had shown me how to reach this bridge before Kris and I relocated. Since our move last Spring I’ve paid several visits to the western bank of the river, but I hadn’t caught Amtrak’s diesel-hauled Pennsylvanian here until the afternoon of Halloween Day.

The combination of late-season foliage, polarized sun and relatively clear autumn air, made this an ideal time to picture the train on the bridge. I checked various angles along the riverbank before deciding upon this place to make my images.

Amtrak train 42, the eastward Pennsylvania crosses the Conestoga on October 31, 2023.

Photos exposed using a Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens.

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20 Years ago: Sugarbeet at Cherryville

Twenty years ago, during November and December I would focus my photography on Irish Rail’s Sugar Beet campaign.

This was an intensive and fascinating operation that focused on the movement of sugar beet from the loading point at Wellingtonbridge, Co. Wexford to the sugar processing factory in Mallow, Co. Cork. The trains were typically hauled by a variety of Irish Rail’s 1960s and 1970s-era General Motors diesels and used a fleet of antique vacuum-braked four wheel beet wagons.

Over the years, my friends and I got to know many of the players in this magnificent stage show, which often added a personal element to watching and photographing the trains in action.

Ireland in November: chilly with low midday sun, the ground perpetually damp and an agircultural scent in the air.

The 2003 beet campaign had an unusual twist. Earlier in the year, an accident at Cahir, Co. Tipperary on the Waterford-Limerick Junction line had damaged a key bridge, as a result the sugar beet trains were diverted northward to Cherryville Junction (on the Dublin-Cork line) and to Kildare where the locomotive would run around, and then toward Cork via Limerick Junction.

On November 27, 2003, my friends and I were set up at Cherryville Junction. Irish Rail class 071 No. 081 had been holding at the signal as trains passed on the main route. Then when traffic cleared, the 081 with 750 tonnes of sugar beet got the signal to crossover and head ‘up-road toward’ Kildare. The locomotive was roaring away as it snaked through the Cherryville crossover.

I exposed this view on Provia 100F (RPD-III) using a Nikon F3 with 180mm Nikkor telephoto.

Much has changed in the intervening years, but I still carry the 180mm lens and Irish Rail 081 is still on the roster. The sugar beet trains are but a memory.

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Images of an Autumn Evening at West Barnstable, Mass.

Although there were no trains expected, Kris and I called into the old New Haven Railroad station at West Barnstable, Massachusetts. Late November foliage and fading sun made for some wonderful atmospheric conditions.

I like the signs from various eras that identify this place. The Conrail blue sign is especially cool.

In earlier posts (from 2018, 2021 and 2022) I’ve featured the decaying Delaware & Hudson cabooses that reside here and passing Mass-Coastal/Cape Cod Central trains.

[See: http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/ballast-train-at-west-barnstable-massachusetts/ and http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/dh-caboose-in-the-rain/ ]

All photos presented here were made with my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Z-series lens; NEF RAW files were adjusted with Adobe Lightroom to make the most of the scene.

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Plimouth-Patuxet Museum—Plymouth, Mass.

It seems seasonally apropos to feature the Plimouth-Patuxet Museum for Thanksgiving.

See: https://plimoth.org

On Tuesday, Kris, her mom Sharon, and I visited this popular museum (formerly known as the Plimouth Plantation) which is focused on recreating and interpreting the early English settlement at Plymouth and their interactions with the people that had been there for generations before the Europeans arrived.

I made a selection of photos with my Lumix LX7 to capture the essence of the place. I liked the musket demonstation the best, but the herd of goats were also pretty neat.

Afterwards, we sussed out MBTA’s disused Plymouth station. Apparently, commuter rail service to Plymouth had been suspended some time ago and as of Tuesday it had not been restored. The rail was rusty, but the electric sign was still welcoming us.

FujiFilm XT1 photo.

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Sunset on the Susquehanna—a few views of the old PRR bridge at Havre de Grace, Maryland.

On our brief visit to Havre de Grace, Maryland in mid-October, I made these views of Amtrak’s late-running train No., 120 gliding across its early Twentieth Century bridge over the Susquehanna River. Leading the train was ACS-64 No. 633.

This antique bridge fascinates me. It’s an old-school pin-connected deck truss. And it’s an impressive imposing structure for its size and length. Word to the wise: get your photos because it is soon to be replaced!

While nothing lasts forever, I’ll miss this old bridge when its gone.

I aimed to get the Amtrak electric passing the rising moon.
Adobe Lightroom work window showis the details of this image.
I like this telephoto view, which best captures the immense size of the old bridge.

I made these photos with my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Z-series zoom.

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Lens Test-Fujinon XF f2.8 50-140mm

I’ve been testing the quality of a Fujinon XF f2.8 50-140mm zoom lens using Kris’s Fujifilm XT4 digital camera.

This is an extremely sharp and versatile piece of glass. I like the Fuji X series cameras because they are relatively easy to use and produce excellent color right out of the camera that require relatively little adjustment.

A couple of weeks ago, I put a Fujinon XF f2.8 50-140mm lens through its paces at Christiana, Pa. These photos were made with the camera set to RAW, with the files processed using Iridient X Transformer to take maximum of the Fuji RAW format by converting them to DNG format

I then used Adobe Lightroom to output files as scaled JPGs for presentation here.

A greatly enlarged portion of the above image to demonstrate the exceptional sharpness of the this lens-camera-software compbination.
Enlarged portion of the above image.
Station platform at Christiana, PA.
Low Grade trail near Christiana, PA. This was once a Pennsylvania Railroad electrified double track freight-only cut-off.
This extremely enlarged cropped version of the above image reveals some of the post-processing artifacts of the Iridient X Transformer converted Fuji RAW file.

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Reading & Northern SD38 2004

On October 21st, Kris and I paused at Reading & Northern’s Tamaqua (Pa.) Yard, where I photographed the railroad’s No. 2004.

Initially, I was interested in making photos of the locomotives resting here in an autumnal scene. When I recognized 2004 as one of the railroad’s ‘rare’ SD38s, I decided to make the most of this find.

Previously on Tracking the Light I featured Reading & Northern SD38 number 2000—a former Penn Central locomotive. (See: http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/rare-bird-on-the-reading-northern/).

Any locomotive more than a half-century old is undoubtedly worthy of attention. However, where the four-motor GP38 was among the most common EMD diesel-electrics of the late 1960s and early 1970s, with a great many still at work on American rails, its six-motor cousin was never common. Among the 53 SD38s built, Detroit, Toledo & Ironton bought five. Similar in appearance to the SD38, was the six-motor SD40 numbered more than 850 built. Even more common was the seemly ubiquitous SD40-2, which numbered in the thousands.

When Grand Trunk Western acquired DT&I in 1983, these rare birds joined the GTW roster. In 1986, I was surprised to find a freshly painted GTW SD38 working a cable laying train on the Central Vermont Railway in Palmer, Massachusetts. It was the first time, I’d ever seen a six-motor diesel on CV’s Palmer Subdivision. In researching the history of the 2004—pictured here—I found that R&N’s 2003 (GTW 6253) was the locomotive I’d photographed all those years ago.

Hopefully, during our wanderings in coal country over the coming weeks and months, I’ll come across R&N 2003, which will bring me full circle with this rolling antique and help complete my SD38 photo story.

Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Z-series zoom.
Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Z-series zoom.
Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Z-series zoom.
Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Z-series zoom.
Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Z-series zoom.

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Stack Train at Tyrone

It had been about 20 years since my last visit to the Main Line at Tyrone, Pennsylvania, where Norfolk Southern’s former Pennsylvania Railroad tracks make a sharp curve through the narrow valley along the Little Juniata River the south end of town.

Last month, Kris and I pulled up to theTyrone Amtrak station, and when I stepped out of the car I could hear the distant sounds of General Electric diesels chugging east.

We didn’t have long to wait and soon a headlight appeared.

Working with my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm zoom, I made this series of photos. Telephoto compression in the tight curve at the station makes it look like I was much closer to the tracks that I really was.

Auto focus made it much easier to keep the locomotives looking sharp.

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Amtrak’s Crescent Under Wire

The Crescent is Amtrak’s daily long-distance train that connects New York City with Atlanta and New Orleans.

Nearly five years ago, my father and I traveled overnight on the Crescent between Wilmington, Delaware and New Orleans as part of a three-day Amtrak epic that began at Windsor Locks, Connecticut and concluded at Houston, Texas.

During mid-October, Kris and I spent the afternoon following the Susquehanna River down to Perryville, Maryland. I navigated our way to the MARC commuter rail station from memory. (I’d last stopped there in 1992). This is situated along Amtrak’s former Pennsylvania Railroad’s Northeast Corridor. Upon arrival, I saw there was a train coming, alerted Kris and grabbed my Nikon Z6 to make telephoto views.

As the train approached, I made this sequence of digital images, while Kris filmed its passing with her phone. It was the southward Crescent with Viewliner sleepers and diner at the back.

Crosslit late autumn sun made for dramatic images as the train braked for the slow order over the Susquehanna River bridge. The challenge was capturing the light on the train between shadows from the electrification supports. (Tip: It helps to have a rapid release setting to take bursts of images.)

Another train was approaching from the far side of the river. But I’ll save that for a later post.

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Wee Lumix Score at Greenfield Road

I was on my way back from the grocery. I’d spotted Norfolk Southern’s outbound New Holland Branch local paused on the running track near the junction with Amtrak’s Harrisburg Line east of the Conestoga River bridge in Harrisburg.

On the hope of finally scoring a photo of a train at the Greenfield Road grade crossing near our apartment, I drove there without delay.

Since we moved to Lancaster last Spring, I’ve been over this grade crossing dozens of times. Only once had I a seen the train here. Kris had made a video, but I hadn’t time to get the photo I want. Most mornings, I hear the New Holland branch train whistling for the crossing, and on several occasions I’ve waited on spec. On this day, all the pieces fell into place.

While the big gun (Nikon Z6) was equipped with an impressive telephoto zoom, what I needed was a wide angle. Luckily, I had my ‘Wee Lumix’ (Lumix LX7) in my pocket at the ready.

This convenient small camera has a great sensor and an extremely sharp lens. The challenge using it in bright sun is seeing the image in the rear screen. Despite this handicap, I made the most of the situation and exposed two images as the local freight crossed Greenfield Road on its way to New Holland.

I have my LX7 set up to simultaneously save exposed photos as RAW and JPG files. In this situation, the JPG’s were profiled using the camera’s color preset mode: ‘Standard’. (Other choices include: ‘Vivid,’ ‘Natural’ and ‘Portrait’). Below I’ve displayed both the in-camera Jpg and a scaled version of the RAW file for comparison. There’s no right and wrong, which is why I always save the files in both formats.

Scaled RAW file, no profile or adjustments.
In-camera JPG with ‘Standard’ color profile. FIle scaled without adjustment to color, exposure or contrast.
Scaled RAW file, adjusted for level, but not color, contrast or exposure.
In-camera JPG with ‘Standard’ color profile. FIle scaled without adjustment to color, exposure or contrast.

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Last Ride over Mount Holly

October 23, 1983: I traveled with Bob Buck to Bellows Falls, Vermont for the last run of Steamtown in Vermont.

Canadian Pacific Pacific No. 1246 and all three Green Mountain Railroad RS-1s were assigned to an epic consist that ran over Mount Holly to Rutland and back.

On the westward climb to Mount Holly, I made this view from the window of the train using my Leica 3A.

I was impressed by the large number of chasers on Route 103 in hot pursuit of the train.

The day had started out bright, but soon turned wet and windy.

Kodachrome 64 exposed on October 23, 1983.

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Autumn Sunset at Greenfield

In the summer, the sun sets to the north of the old Pennsylvania Main Line at Greenfield. And during the long days, Kris and I made a number of photos of Amtrak trains on their way to and from Harrisburg under wire.

Now into autumn, the sun is in the southern sky, which lends for a new dimension on this Greenfield location,

I made this photo of westward Keystone train 667 zipping along the old Pennsy with a nicely illuminated autumn evening sky.

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Keystone at Bird-in-Hand

Bird-in-Hand is a classic Pennsy Main Line location.

The 1920s-era grade separation with concrete stairwells over Pennsylvania Route 340 is largely intact.

The once four-main railroad snakes through a gentle curve, which can make for a dynamic setting. I caught eastward Amtrak Keystone 670 shortly after its Lancaster, Pa., station stop.

The zebra striped cab-car works well in the autumnal scene.

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Seeing with a 300mm.

In September 1990, I made a trip over Donner Pass.

What was special about this trip was photographing the familiar piece of railroad on Donner in new way.

Between Autumn of 1989 and Autumn 1990, I made dozens of trips over California’s Donner Pass to photograph Southern Pacific trains. What was visually significant about the Sept 1st, 1990 trip was that I’d borrowed a Nikkor f4.5 300mm lens from Brian Jennison, with whom I was traveling.

Over the course of a long weekend, I used this novel focal length to take ‘new’ photos of familiar places.

Among the variety of 300mm views, was this photo that I made at 7:37am on September 1, 1990 of SP 6713 west at Yuba Pass, California. It was one of several from a fixed tripod sequence.

The novelty of the extreme telephoto compression had caught my interest and I made the most of this borrowed lens. Up until that time, the longest lens in my camera bag was a Nikkor f4.0 200mm.

It was only on reviewing my notes from this trip did I realize how much this telephoto had impressed me on that trip. Ironically, a new Nikkor 300mm was completely out of my price range at the time.

It is interesting to see how working with this one lens influenced the way I made photos on that trip.

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Amtrak 448 at the Warren Crossovers—1983.

This was a just a routine scene from 40 years ago: Amtrak’s eastward Lake Shore Limited (Boston section) train 448 at the Warren Crossovers.

Back in the days when Conrail’s former Boston & Albany was still operated as a traditional directional double-track mainline (under rule 251), there were manual cross-overs at strategic locations, including Warren, Mass.

Historically (pre-1960), the Warren Crossovers also served the Warren Yard and the long unsignaled eastward running track from West Warren that had allowed slow moving freights to keep out of the way of faster eastward trains.

These crossovers were removed after Conrail installed TCS signals and single-tracked the B&A east of Palmer in 1986.

I made these photos on Kodachrome using my Leica 3A during the second week of October 1983.

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Classic Chrome—Cass Street Hornell

Here’s another classic K25 slide from that wonderfully perfect autumn day on October 14, 1988.

I’d been following Delaware & Hudson PLMT (Pittsburgh & Lake Erie-Mount Tom) unit coal train that was rolling east on Conrail’s Southern Tier (former Erie Railroad) main line.

The old Cass Street Tower had controlled the Junction where the original Erie Maine Line that went west via Andover, New York diverged from Erie’s Buffalo Line that went via River Junction and Attica, New York. By 1988, the Buffalo Line was the preferred route for most freights.

Delaware & Hudson had trackage rights on Conrail between Buffalo and Binghamton, NY. By mid-1988, Guilford Transportation Industries had relinquished control of the D&H, and New York, Susquehanna & Western was the court appointed operator of the line.

NY&W had acquired a fleet of former Burlington Northern SD45/F45s that it assigned to road freights.

I was fan of the SD45, and when I caught this coal train slogging east on the old Erie, I did my best to keep up with it, making photographs with my old Leica M2 along the way. This view at Cass Street was one of just 16 places I photographed the train that morning.

Cass Street, Hornell, New York at 10:30am on October 14, 1988. Leica M2 with 50mm lens, Kodachrome 25 f4.5 1/250 sec.

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